Some minor wear & tear during the first month of ownership.

[Mirage11]

The Phaeton has been a joy to ride on. My father clocked over 3000 kms now, and the car is due for service at 5000 km, which will come within the next month (I predict). Some minor issues cropped up this month, just to let you guys know... Here are some pictures for reference. But it is just minor problems- really nothing much to detract from the overall driving experience, just some issues. Alright, I shall start listing them down.

1. Loose sun-shade pull-tag. It doesn't lock firmly into the gap like the other one on the other door. And, I can confirm there is nothing wrong with the "popping" mechanism under this pull-tag. It works fine, I've tried it already. Still can't really find the cause of this problem...

2. Some unremovable marks on paintwork. This my father says is a small issue... He reckons that it is caused by the corrosive nature of the rain falling from the roof of our house. He bought a few bottles that could remove the stains, and also a wax bottle. We should be doing this later. With the pictures I'm sure you won't be able to see the stains clearly but heck I will post it as well...

3. Loose chrome trim on the front passenger's door. It came out slightly after awhile and my dad used a piece of string to hold it together before we go for the next service where it is expected to be fixed back. It is actually held by a glue of some sort before. We reckon it came out because my mother always slams the door too hard and well, the impact was too great.

4. Rear headrests adjusts too high for comfort. This is a personal issue with the headrests... But to my experience, it automatically goes up a little too high, and my head rarely could rest comfortably on it. I don't think there's any way this height could be adjusted, is there?

Here is a question about the humidifier and what not:

What is this button on the side of the doors for? Is it supposed to be kept on at all times? The windscreen fogs up occasionally in the mornings with these buttons off.

And finally, just a reference image on the lighting knob without auto switching:

Thanks for any help!


Modified by Mirage11 at 6:03 PM 6-4-2005

[Mirage11]

Voila! After intense cleaning... The marks have disappeared. Cheers!

[PanEuropean]

Hi James:

Some information that might be of use to you:

1) The problem you have with the sunshade tab on the rear door is a 'known issue' - there is a technical bulletin out that explains how to fix this problem. (Well, it is out in North America, anyway). If you mention this to your VW dealer, they can go digging in the VW electronic information system and find the TB, that will tell them how to solve the problem. I am not 100% familiar with this TB, but to the best of my knowledge, it is not a difficult or complex thing to fix.

2) I suspect the stains on the paint are from bird droppings. Some bird droppings can be very corrosive to paint, depending on the species. Sea-birds that are scavengers are the worst, what they leave behind will eat right through the clearcoat on any paint finish if the dropping is left on the paint for a day or so, especially in hot sun. The only fix is to wash the dropping off right away. 3M makes a product called "3M Wax and Light Oxidation Remover" that is excellent for fixing up this kind of problem, provided you get the dropping wiped off in time, before it eats too far into the clearcoat. I think I have a picture of the product somewhere, I will go looking for it.

3) The door trim strip should be an easy item to fix. These are held on by little clips that are independent of the trim strip, so, if one clip has failed, it is only necessary to replace the clip, not the whole strip.

4) The headrest height cannot be adjusted. I think everyone agrees that it does go up too high, unless the rear seat passenger is 180 cm high or more, which is not common. I discovered how to turn it off, but I have not yet determined if turning it off will affect operation of the side air bags in the event of a collision. I'll post more on that later, once I get the information I need.

5) The defroster button on the front cabin doors manually initiates defrosting of the side window glass for the door. My experience has been that it is not necessary to press this button for defrosting during winter conditions (the air that flows out of the same vent automatically when the main defroster button above the J523 Front Information Display and Control Head is pressed will be sufficient), but, if I enter hot, humid outside air conditions - typical of what you might have in Singapore - then I sometimes need to press this button in addition to the main defrost button to keep the side windows clear. Think of it as a 'turbocharge' or 'overdrive' button for side window defogging. If it is pressed, you will get maximum output at that window.

Michael

[PanEuropean]

Hi James:

Attached is the Technical Bulletin that was released by VW of America describing how to fix the sunshade problem that you are having. Although Singapore is a different market, I suspect that the procedure will be the same. This TB assumes that the Phaeton is a long wheelbase model, as that is the only kind sold in North America. If you have a SWB Phaeton, then your dealer will have to order the correct part for the SWB rear door, which is not as long as the LWB rear door.

Hope this information is helpful to you and your dealer. As you can see, it is a pretty quick and easy fix.

Michael

[PanEuropean]

Here is a picture of the 3M Cleaner-Wax that I use to remove bird droppings and mineral deposits (water stains) from my Phaeton. This is a VW approved product. If you order it, be aware that it comes in two 'strengths' - light oxidation remover and heavy oxidation remover. We want to use the light version. The contents of the bottle tend to separate quite quickly, so, shake the bottle vigorously before you squirt the liquid out, even if you just shook it 10 minutes ago.

There is also additional information about VW recommended cleaning products for the Phaeton at this post: Volkswagen Cleaning Instructions for Dealers, VW Recommended Chemicals. Look for the post that has the downloadable PDF attached.

3M Cleaner Wax

[Mirage11]

Michael:

Thanks alot for your great help. I'm sure my dad would more more than happy to rectify the problems. And the one he has is a LWB, so it's no problem with the fix. We'll try it on the next available occasion.

We used a cheapo cleaner wax (I'll persuade him to get 3M), but the cheapo works quite ok.

Our hard work waxing the car for almost 2 hours was almost futile after our cats climbed onto the car to leave their muddy prints on the slippery surface. Luckily they didn't do too much damage that is bad enough to warrant them as convicts.

[chillson]

Michael,

Do you still have a copy of the TB to fix the sunshade tab on the rear door? There is no longer an attachment here. Thanks...Jay

[PanEuropean]

Attached...